Asia Briefing – Vol. 48 No. 03

Asia Briefing – Vol. 48 No. 03

“Called to be a Catechist,” a book recently released by the Indian Catechetical Association, discusses the role of the laity in faith education in the country. The book collects the talks delivered at the association’s 17th annual conference, held last year in Patna, and is edited by Fr. Gilbert Choondal, a Salesian priest. “The papers explore the dimensions of a catechist, including historical, religious, pedagogical, and Oriental models, as well as discussing the challenges of being a catechists today,” Fr. Choondal told CNA March 7. He said the book’s title indicates that “to be a catechist” is a “basic Christian vocation,” and the mission of all the baptized. “The papers provide a new emphasis on the identity, role, and formation of catechists,” he explained. (CNA)

MALAYSIA. Ministry bans use of term 'Allah' by non-Muslims

MALAYSIA. Ministry bans use of term ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims

The Home Ministry of Malaysia has banned the use of the word “Allah” in a children’s comic book, continuing disputes over non-Muslims’ ability to use the word. An issue of the children’s comic book Ultraman referring to the super hero as “respected as Allah or elder” by other heroes, contains “elements that may threaten public order,” the Malaysian Home Ministry said in a March 7 statement. “If the matter isn’t curbed, it could damage Muslim’s children faith by equating Allah with Ultraman,” the Home Ministry continued. The government stated that the series itself is not banned, but the Malay-language issue that uses the world was prohibited, with a maximum jail sentence of three years for anyone caught distributing the book. The ban comes amid a continuing dispute in the Malaysian legal system over non-Muslim’s right to use “Allah” to refer to God. “Allah” is the Malay language equivalent of the English word “god,” and is a loanword from Arabic. Malay is the official language of the country, and Malaysians of all religions use the word; not just Muslims. (CNA)

THAILAND. Korean Masses strengthen migrant community in Thailand

THAILAND. Korean Masses strengthen migrant community in Thailand

Last February’s introduction of Sunday Masses celebrated in Korean at a parish in the Thai city of Pattaya has united both emigrants and tourists from South Korea. “This regular Korean language Mass unites, strengthens, and revitalizes faith life in the parish,” Fr. Giovanni Lee Sung-hyun, chaplain at St. Nikolaus parish in Pattaya, about 80 miles southeast of Bangkok, told CNA Feb. 24. He added that the other sacraments are also offered in Korean, in response to a growing influx of Korean emigrant workers, as well as tourists, to the port city. “Understanding and interiorizing the Word of God is very important,” Fr. Lee commented, adding that the Thai language is a major impediment for Koreans’ participation in the liturgy, which hinders their spiritual growth. Celebration of Mass in Korean makes for “a participatory church, and also connects to the nostalgia of Korean liturgy,” added Fr. Lee. (CNA)

NORTH KOREA. Pyongyang reportedly detains Christian missionary

NORTH KOREA. Pyongyang reportedly detains Christian missionary

The North Korean government has allegedly detained a 75-year-old Christian missionary named John Short, possibly for distributing Christian pamphlets. “I know he’s courageous and he’s in God’s hands,” Short’s wife Karen told The Associated Press. “I believe that at the right time that the right thing will happen and he will be released,” she added, saying she had been “shocked” by her husband’s detention. Short reportedly had Korean-language Christian literature with him, and his wife said that could be the reason for his detention. “He knew North Korea was not a tourist destination but he cares about the people and he wants to help,” she told Agence France Presse. The Shorts, originally from Australia, are currently living in Hong Kong. (CNA)

MONGOLIA. Catechesis in Mongolia educates laity for evangelization

MONGOLIA. Catechesis in Mongolia educates laity for evangelization

A new catechesis program of the Church in Mongolia is promoting holistic formation of the human person as part of the evangelization of the central Asian nation. “The course … is meant to form catechists with a working knowledge of the Scriptures, as well as the Church and its mission,” Fr. Giorgio Marengo of the Consolata Missionaries, told CNA March 5. The Prefecture Apostolic of Ulaanbaatar, which serves the entire country, has recently established a two-year long course in catechetical formation, giving a fundamental formation in theology and the life of the Church. The formation program began in September; Fr. Marengo said it began with Christ’s life and the significance of the Paschal mystery, and is currently discussing the sacraments. (CNA)

SOUTH KOREA. Pope will meet Asian youths in August

SOUTH KOREA. Pope will meet Asian youths in August

Pope Francis will travel to South Korea in August for Asian Youth Day and to preside over the beatification of a large group of Korean martyrs, the Vatican spokesman said. The pope will leave Rome Aug. 13 and fly to South Korea, staying in the country Aug. 14-18, according to Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman. He said no other countries would be on the itinerary. The main point of the trip, Lombardi said, is to participate in the youth gathering Aug. 13-17 in Daejeon, South Korea. The theme of Asian Youth Day is “Asian youth, wake up! The glory of the martyrs shines on you.” Sponsored by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, the gathering is expected to draw delegates from 30 countries. Lombardi said Pope Francis also will visit South Korea’s capital, Seoul, and meet President Park Geun-hye. (CNS)

EGYPT. Are Egypt's Christians persecuted? Copts' answers vary

EGYPT. Are Egypt’s Christians persecuted? Copts’ answers vary

Egypt’s minority Christians have various opinions regarding claims that they are being persecuted in their predominantly Muslim country. In separate interviews with Catholic News Service, Copts — the name for Egypt’s indigenous Christians — agreed that that their nation was facing major difficulties, including turmoil and violence, which had touched their personal lives in some way. Most of 12 interviewees, from a variety of professional and educational backgrounds, expressed similar concerns that Coptic immigration to the West was endangering the community’s historic presence in the North African country, where Christians make up about 10 percent of an estimated 85 million people and constitute the Middle East’s largest Christian minority. But they offered different views over whether they thought they were being targeted for their faith and, if so, over whether the situation was worse now than it has been in the past. “There have always been difficulties,” said Fr. Kamil William, professor of Old Testament at Cairo’s Faculty of Religious Sciences, which is run by Egypt’s Catholic patriarch and bishops. He refused to use the word “persecution,” which he described as “a systematic … institutionalized attempt to harm an ethnic group.” (CNS)

The release of at least 12 Greek Orthodox nuns who were abducted here in December was an answer to prayers, said regional Catholic officials. Melkite Patriarch Gregoire III Laham said March 10 that he felt “a wave of joy” along with “thousands and thousands” of other people when he heard the nuns had been freed a day earlier. Islamist rebels claimed responsibility for the abduction of the nuns in December from Syria’s ancient town of Maaloula, where Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still spoken. Two Orthodox bishops and three priests, including an Armenian Catholic and Italian Jesuit, also have been abducted in Syria and remain missing. “I hope the initiative to release the sisters will be a door for more efforts to liberate the two bishops and also the priests,” Patriarch Laham said from his patriarchate in Rabweh, Lebanon. The papal nuncio to Syria, Archbishop Mario Zenari, told Vatican Radio: “It was news we were waiting for. We prayed for the liberation of these nuns who were taken hostage at the beginning of December.” (CNS)

CHINA. Beijing overtakes Tehran as America's 'number 1 enemy'

CHINA. Beijing overtakes Tehran as America’s ‘number 1 enemy’

China has overtaken Iran and become America’s greatest enemy, this according to a Gallup Poll released today that ranks the top ten most hostile nations, according to the American public. China and Iran are followed by North Korea, Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. In the first survey of this type in 2001, carried out ten years after the Persian Gulf War, Americans named Iraq as the greatest US enemy by a large margin. By 2005, with the United States nearly two years into the Iraq war, Iraq and North Korea tied as the greatest enemy. The following year, Iran surged to the top of the list and remained there until this year. Iran’s drop in this year’s poll has been accompanied by increases in respondents naming North Korea (from 10 per cent in 2012 to 16 per cent), Russia (from 2 per cent to 9 per cent,) and Syria (from less than 1 per cent to 3 per cent), as America’s greatest enemy. (Asianews)

BANGLADESH. Caritas opens new facility for typhoon victims

BANGLADESH. Caritas opens new facility for typhoon victims

Caritas Bangladesh continues to help cyclone Mahasen victims as well as those who will suffer damage from future typhoons. Despite the danger that the authorities might forget such tragedies, the Catholic organization has opened a new shelter for displaced people in the village of Chalitabonia, Patuakhali, which will operate as a short-term typhoon rescue shelter as well as a long-term emergency facility. Caritas now runs about 250 shelters in Bangladesh’s coastal areas, providing refuge to displaced people as well as hot meals and education for children. Some of the shelters are equipped with medical facilities. The facility cost about US$ 120,000, which were raised by Caritas France, and is equipped with solar panels and big safe water tank. (Asianews)

SRI LANKA. State-run TV is targeting NGOs, activists say

SRI LANKA. State-run TV is targeting NGOs, activists say

Nongovernmental organizations in Sri Lanka say they are being unfairly targeted by state media for filing complaints in a memo to the UN Human Rights Council for what they say are ongoing human rights violations. State-run Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corp, in a March 6 broadcast, said that by complaining to the United Nations, the 24 NGOs that signed the complaint could “damage the peace and reconciliation” among Sri Lanka’s various ethnic groups and regions. The state TV station also accused the NGOs of exaggerating human rights abuses in Sri Lanka as a fund-raising tool. Of particular concern to human rights leaders was that the broadcast specifically named several NGOs and displayed photographs of several officials. In their complaint to the United Nations, the NGOs called for a war crimes investigation and said that religious extremism was increasing. Fr. Reid Shelton Fernando, a human rights activist from Colombo said the state-owned station was being “very imprudent in their attack” on the NGOs. (UCAN)

PAKISTAN. Islamic council sparks marriage row

PAKISTAN. Islamic council sparks marriage row

A key clause in Pakistan’s family laws regarding polygamy is in direct conflict with sharia, the constitutional body which gives advice to the government on religious matters said on March 10. Pakistan’s Muslim family laws make it mandatory for a man to get the written consent of his existing wife to marry again. Violators face imprisonment of up to one year if convicted. However, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) said sharia law allows a man to marry again without his existing wife’s permission. The call was immediately slammed by rights groups. Dr Farzana Bari, a prominent Pakistan rights activist, denounced the CII demand as a shameful and irrational act. Bari further said the council’s demand was an attack on woman rights. (UCAN)